Sunday, February 01, 2009

Hi. I’ve decided to consolidate my personal blogging activities and have started a wordpress blog, tikichris.wordpress.com. Anything that I might have posted here at The Adventures of Tiki Chris will now be posted there. Same goes for content that I might have published at ontoTravel or ontoLondon: it will now be posted on the new site. I'm not doing away with these old sites - just not actively posting on them anymore. Indeed, I may find some need to publish content through them in the future.

For off-the-cuff mobile blogging, I’m keeping my Tumblr blog, tikichris-to-go. If you haven’t checked it out yet. I hope you will, I have a lot of fun with it.

Thanks so much to regular followers of this blog. It means a great deal to me to have had you “tuning in” these past few years. I look forward to continuing the journey with you!

London is (or at least often can be) such a photogenic place. There's just something about it. I mean, for the most part, it's not incredibly beautiful … not like Paris or Barcelona anyway. Nor is London terribly stunning; you really can't compare it to the vertical awe of Manhattan or the mind boggling expanse of, say, Shanghai. However, the story London tells through its streets, landmarks and faces (oh the faces in this town!) is as compelling as any I've ever experienced. The story is one of weathering crises with resolve and engaging the world on its own terms. Through my photography, I hope to share that story with the viewer. Sometimes I think I come close to succeeding.

Friday, January 23, 2009

I did a whole lotta livin' but not a lotta postin' this week. Unfortunately, I had plenty of pesky desk work to do as well. But hey, that's life.

Anyway, I did happen upon a pack of FURRY wildlife on the streets of London (and luckily had my trusty camera at hand to document the encounter). I also managed to get one more Sickboy article published.

Other than that, not much really. I'm still adjusting to the (INCREDIBLY AWESOME) fact that there's a new President of the United States of America. I had some homemede pasta e ceci and a Moonpie too ... And played surrogatetourist for an old friend back in Chattanooga.

Not content to simply wow exhibition goers with a retrospective of his best street and studio work, prolific London graffiti artist, Sickboy (whom we interviewed back in February 08), saw his recent solo show, Stay Free, as an opportunity to give something back to his fans in the way of offering his massive Stay Free Factory installation as a prize to one lucky exhibition visitor. During the December 4th through 10th run of the Stay Free exhibition, a thousand golden keys were released to the exhibition visitors with the person whose key fit the lock becoming the new owner of the Stay Free Factory (worth an estimated £20,000).

See more pics and read the complete Sickboy: Stay Free review at Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Both [Sweet Toof and Martin Lea Brown] have the uncanny ability to juxtapose images of violence, illegality and desperation with vivid colours and an exuberance too often avoided in contemporary art (at least in this town). The results provide viewers with an opportunity to ponder societal anxiety and the fragility of cultural norms at a time when such topics truly resonate. In other words, this is cool shit that’s worth ogling. Very zeitgeist-y!